Pleat making guide



July s, 1969 P. NELSQN 3,454,203

V PLEAT MAKING GUIDE Filed Dec. 29, 1966 IQCI Icl

IGCI

I\ FOLD I w 6I 0D I INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY PATRICIA NELSON United states Patent o 3,454,203 PLEAT MAKINGGUIDE Patricia Nelson, 1717 Ash St., Forest Grove, Oreg. 97116 FiledDec. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 605,709 Int. Cl. D06j 1/00; G01b 3/00; A41h43/00 U.S. Cl. 223-34 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pleat makingguide having guide means along the edges thereof indicating a manner offolding for making pleats. Second guide means are disposed along thefirst guide means for aligning the guide on material, and third guidemeans are provided for positioning stitching when sewing the guide onmaterial to be pleated.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in pleat makingguides.

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a pleatmaking guide which is capable of being stitched to a garment and whichhas means for indicating the location of folds necessary for makingpleats in the garment, the guide being formed of an easily foldable,inexpensive material whereby to be discarded after a single use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a pleat makingguide which has first guide means to indicate the 'location of foldsnecessary for making pleats in a garment and also having second guidemeans extending longitudinally thereof to indicate a position forplacing stitching for attaching the guide to material to be pleated.

Another object is to provide a pleat making guide which has laterallyextending guide means indicating the location of folds necessary formaking pleats in the garment and which also includes longitudinallyextending guide means adjacent to the laterally extending guide meansfor aligning the pleat making guide with material in a stitchingposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pleat making guidehaving guide means on opposite surfaces thereof with the guide means onthe two surfaces having different spacing whereby to form pleats ofdifferent size and shape depending upon the guide means used.

Additional objects and advantages Will become apparent from thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate a preferred form of the device.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view of one side of a pleat making guideof the instant invention, the guide being shown in association with agarment in the process of using the guide and the garment being shown inphantom lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross sectional view taken on theline 2 2 of FIGURE 1 but showin-g the guide and the garment in invertedposition relative to FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a plan View of the opposite surface of the guide from thatshown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary, perspective view, slightly enlarged, takenfrom the bottom edge of FIGURE 1 and showing a pleated constructionusing the present invention as the guide;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary, perspective 'View similar to FIGURE 4 butshowing the formation of a different type of pleat; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of FIGURE5.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, the guide 3,454,203Patented July 8, 1969 comprises an elongated strip 10 formed of amaterial which is easily folded and which is inexpensive since the guideis only used once. As will be seen hereinafter, it is preferred that theguide be ymade of paper which not only is inexpensive but in additioncan be torn along a stitch line to be described. Provided on one facesurface of the strip adjacent to op'posite side edges thereof arelongitudinal guide patterns 12 and 14 which contain fold markings andinstructions necessary 'for making pleats of two different widths suchas one inch Iand one-half inch regular pleats, respectively. Each of theguide patterns 12 and 14 has sets of three laterally extending lines 16,18 and 20 equally spaced and arranged in said sets throughout the lengthof the strip. Line 16 is identified by the word fold, and the line 20 isidentified by the words to here. Also included in the patterns 12 and 14are arrows 26 which show the direction of folding and where the fold isto be made, such arrows leading from each line 16 and terminating alittle short of lines 20. The manner of folding will be describedhereinafter. Guide patterns 12 and 14 have designations 22 and 24 whichgive the size of pleat made thereby, namely guide means 12 -is used tomake a one inch pleat and guide means 14 is used to make a one-half inchpleat.

Extending longitudinally of the strip inwardly from the opposed sidesand associated with guide patterns l12 and 14 are material locatinglines 30 which, as will be seen hereinafter, serve to align materialwith the present guide in a pleat making operation. Also extendinglongitudinally of the strip and disposed between the material locatinglines 30 are two parallel guide lines'34 and 36 the purpose of whichwill be explained hereinafter. Strip 10 also has inch measurements 38thereon adjacent to the lines 34 and 36 to serve as a measuring tapewhen needed.

The opposite surface of the strip, shown in FIGURE 3, has guide patterns40 and 42 arranged on the strip in a manner similar to the guidepatterns 12 |and 14. These guide patterns are arranged to make boxpleats, however, instead of the regular pleats, using selectively placedlateral guide lines 16, 18 and 20 to indicate the location of foldsnecessary for making pleats. This side of the strip has materiallocating lines 30 and 32, stitch guide lines 34 and 36, and tapemeasuring designations 38.

In the operation of the present guide, the material to be pleated islaid on the strip with the edge thereof aligned with and adjacent to thematerial locating line 30 or 32 of the guide pattern 12 or 14 asselected for use. In other words, and as seen in FIGURE 1, wherein thematerial to be pleated is represented by the numeral 44 and it isassumed that one-half inch pleats are to be made, the material is laidon the strip such that its edge is aligned with and adjacent to thematerial locating line 30 adjacent to the pattern 14. If one-inch pleatswere to be formed instead of the one-half inch pleats, then the materialwould be placed on the strip such that the guide pattern 12 would be theprojecting portion and the edge of the material would align withmaterial locating line 30 adjacent to pattern 12.

After suitable alignment of the strip and the material as justdescribed, the assembly is turned over, FIGURE 2, and the strip andmaterial sewed together by stitches 46 along Iboth stitch guide lines 34and 36.

The material and the attached strip 10 are then turned back over and theportion of the strip which is disposed on the far side of the stitchline 34 with relation to the projecting edge used is torn off. As anillustration, where the guide means 14 is being used to make theone-half inch regular pleat as illustrated in FIGURE 1, the stripportion on the far side of the stitch guide line 34 is torn oif alongsaid stitch line and discarded. This leaves the portion of the stripcomprising the guide means 14 and the area up to the stitch line 34attached to the garment.

Thereupon, the garment is pleated by following the instructions on theprojecting guide means, such as the guide means 14 in FIGURE l. Inmaking the pleats, the strip is brought over 4at lateral guide lines 16in the direction of associated arrows 26 with the portion 16 being movedprecisely to the lateral guide lines 20, the lines 18 comprising thelocation of the fold or crease lines resulting from the folding justmentioned. The manner of folding is shown clearly in FIGURE 4. After thepleats have been made, the strip is torn off on the stitch line 36. Thisleaves attached to the material that narrow portion of the strip betweenthe stitch lines 34 and 36 but such material is not visible and simplyremains attached to the garment.

The box pleat is formed in the same `manner as that just described withthe exception that the fold as brought into the position of lines 18from opposite directions as designated by opposed sets of arrows 26.After the pleats are formed, they are sewed down in any way desired.

In accordance `with the present invention there is thus provided a pleatmaking guide which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use. Theoperator need only attach it to the garment to be pleated and thenfollowv instructions on the guide. Thereafter, most of the guide is tornoff and disposed of.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A pleat making guide comprising (a) an elongated strip of materialcapable of being folded,

(b) said strip having laterally extending iirst guide means adjacent toone side edge thereof to indicate the location of folds necessary formaking 'pleats in a garment when the strip is engaged flatwise on thegarment,

(c) said strip having secondguide means extending longitudinally thereofand disposed between the said first guide means and the other side edge,

(d) said second guide means comprising a gui-de for stitching said stripto material to be pleated,

(e) and longitudinally extending guide means extending adjacent to saidfirst guide means for aligning the guide on material in a stitchingposition.

2. The pleat making guide of claim 1 wherein said second guide meanscomprises stitch guide meansl for sewing the guide to material to bepleated.

3. The pleat making guide of claim 1 including third guide meansadjacent to one side edge of the strip but on the opposite side thereoffrom said rst guide means and arranged to indicate the location of foldsnecessary for making pleats of `different construction than those on theother side.

4. The pleat making guide of claim 1 wherein (a) said second guide meanscomprises stitch guide means one each side of said str ip for sewing theguide either side up to material to be pleated,

(b) and including guide means adjacent to one side edge of the strip buton the opposite side thereof and arranged to indicate the location of`folds necessary for making pleats of different construction than thoseon the other side.

5. The pleat making guide of claim 1 wherein said strip has laterallyextending third guide means adjacent to the other side edge of thestrip,

(b) said third guide means indicating the location of folds necessaryfor making pleats in a garment when the strip is engaged atwise on agarment and being of different spacing than said iirst guide means toform pleats of `different size than said rst guide means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,507,684 5/1950 Smith 33-1372,777,617 1/1957 Matt 223-34 2,945,238 7/1960 Weiser 223-28 X PATRICK D.LAWSON, Primary Examiner. GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 33-137

